


Robin's Eggs

by BuckinghamAlice



Series: Spending Holidays with the SuperBats [9]
Category: Batman - All Media Types, Superman - All Media Types
Genre: A day in the life of Alfred Pennyworth, Brotherly Bonding, Chris is awesome and adorable and there should be more fic with him in it, Domestic, Domestic Fluff, Easter, Easter Egg Hunt, Family, Family Fluff, Gen, I just really wanted to get Chris in here, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-04-20
Updated: 2014-04-20
Packaged: 2018-01-20 02:42:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,767
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1493692
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BuckinghamAlice/pseuds/BuckinghamAlice
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Bruce and Clark need a break from their brood, Alfred is left in charge of the Easter egg hunt.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Robin's Eggs

Alfred Pennyworth never would have guessed that Easter would turn out to be one of the most hectic days of his year, but it had.  The whole weekend, truth be told, was trying.  He had spent the majority of Saturday dying and decorating several dozen eggs with Damian, his friend and weekend guest Colin Wilkes, and Chris Kent, the latest addition to the already oversized family.  Damian, despite all his protests to the contrary, was finally warming to Chris, and occasionally paying too much attention to him for Colin’s taste.  Stopping exuberant children from squabbling was _not_ in his job description (despite the fact that it had in fact become a big part of his life), but he felt it necessary when one of said children was a Kryptonian who was still learning to control his powers.  
   
And then Sunday morning came in, and Alfred had to wake with the sun.  The children would be asleep a while longer, but he’d be in charge of _all_ of them all day, or at least most of it.  And he loved the children, quite a lot to be honest, but they were an incredible amount of work.  His first task of the day was to hide the Easter eggs all over Wayne Manor – on the grounds and in the house – and that took quite some time, but it had to be done while the children were all asleep.  Then he had to make breakfast (tea, juice, dozens of waffles, and fresh fruit… eggs seemed a tad redundant) because it was best to have food to give them straightaway.   
   
When the scent of the food began to travel up to their respective bedrooms, they all began to wake up and come downstairs.  Soon there were eleven of them situated around the table, talking loudly, grabbing food off of each other’s plates and making Alfred feel like the lunch lady in a public school cafeteria.  When they were all together like this, even the older children (who were usually relatively mature young adults) were capable of needing supervision.  
   
And then finally it was Tim who brought up the subject Alfred was a bit surprised it had taken them so long to mention.  
   
“Where’s Bruce?” he asked.  
   
“And Clark?” Conner added.  
   
Alfred sighed as he explained, “Masters Bruce and Clark are elsewhere today, celebrating the holiday in private.”  
   
“By themselves?” Chris asked, looking slightly wounded.  Alfred wanted to tell the boy not to worry, that the men would return, but he didn’t have a chance to.  As it often did in this very full house, the conversational ball kept bouncing.  
   
Damian huffed.  “What could they _possibly_ be doing?”  
   
“Sex,” Stephanie cut in, with a little laugh, rolling her eyes as if that was the silliest question she’d ever volunteered to answer.  Barbara gave a knowing smile and shake of her head, and Dick groaned.  
   
“You have a truly disgusting mind, Brown,” the boy sneered.  
   
“And _you_ live in a constant state of denial,” Tim chimed drily.  
   
Sighing again, Alfred cleared his throat and continued, “As I was saying, the Masters have taken leave, and I am to help the rest of you celebrate the holiday in the manner to which you’re all accustomed.”  
   
“Meaning?” Jason asked.  
   
Alfred nodded.  “Meaning there is to be an egg hunt.”  
   
Dick grinned at the three youngest boys and said, “You hear that, guys?  The Easter Bunny has been here!”  
   
Alfred sighed.  “Yes, the Easter Bunny.  That’s who hid the eggs, sir.”  Shaking his head at Dick’s cheeky grin in response, he continued his speech.  “This egg hunt will be a competition of sorts.  You will split into teams, of your own choosing, and there are to be prizes for the team that uncovers the most eggs.”  
   
There was a general murmur of approval (which by the standards of any other family would have been a riotous uproar).  
   
Alfred nodded curtly.  “Now, you may split into your teams, and when that is done, you may begin your search.”  
   
“You and me, Kon?” Kara asked.  
   
Stephanie frowned.  “Hey, no, that’s not fair.  Two supers on one team is an unfair advantage.  You’ll be peeping through walls and super speeding around to pick up the eggs.”  
   
Kara gave a cocky grin.  “You’re saying you think we’d cheat?”  
   
Jason snorted.  “Even if she’s not sayin’ it, I’m saying I _know_ you would.”  
   
“Like you all wouldn’t use your little bat gadgets to make sure the playing field was level,” Conner retorted, rolling his eyes.  
   
Damian guffawed.  “For _your_ sake, clone, you had better hope our _gadgets_ , as you call them, are all we use.”  
   
“When did we decide to do Bats versus Supers?” Tim asked.  
   
“My dad wouldn’t like that,” Chris ventured.  
   
Next to Damian, Colin frowned deeply.  “And which team would _I_ be on?”  
   
“Mine,” Damian spat back, grabbing Colin’s arm protectively.  Chris sighed deeply on the other side of them.  
   
“Maybe we should do girls versus boys,” Babs suggested.  
   
But Cass shook her head.  “That would be four versus seven.”  
   
“We still have the advantage,” Babs said with a smirk and a shrug.  “Like it’d take four of us to beat them.”  
   
Dick rolled his eyes.  “Very funny.”  
   
“I thought it was,” Cass agreed with a cheeky grin.  
   
After a lengthy discussion, they settled on the teams that Alfred suggested – Dick with Jason, Barbara with Kara, Tim with Conner, Stephanie with Cassandra, and the three youngest all together.  He took a seat in the kitchen and poured himself a hot cup of tea as the children grabbed the baskets that had been left out for them and began their search.  
   
Alfred kept to himself as the children scoured the house and the grounds – yelling, screaming, laughing, running, pounding up and down the stairs, pushing each other out of the way, and generally enjoying competing with one another.  
   
It wasn’t long before the children all reported back to him.  He counted their eggs to make sure they had all been recovered (which, thankfully, they had) and announced that the team with the most eggs was Damian, Chris, and Colin.  
   
“Well, sure,” Stephanie griped.  “There are three of them.”  
   
Kara nodded.  “And they’re all tiny and sneaky.”  
   
Damian huffed.  “And you are all poor sports.”  
   
“I have to agree with Master Damian,” Alfred cut in.  “You should all be congratulating the winning team, rather than complaining.  Your fathers have assured me that there are to be prizes for everyone, so you needn’t feel cheated.”  
   
“Oh, prizes!” Chris chirped, grabbing Damian’s arm.  Colin threw him a dirty look.  
   
“Yes,” Alfred began.  He retrieved the envelopes from the counter and handed them out.  They were numbered from one to five.  Envelope one was handed to Damian, Chris, and Colin and envelope five was handed to the team who uncovered the least eggs – Tim and Conner.  
   
The envelopes each contained the names of books – _The Iliad_ , _Mansfield Park_ , _Moby Dick_ , _The Grapes of Wrath_ , and _Gulliver’s Travels_ .  The children went scampering off to the library to find their respective books.  Alfred watched from the doorway as the books were located and the children discovered slips of paper inside them.  
   
“Cold,” Conner read.  
   
“Ours says distant,” Kara announced.  
   
“What _is_ this?” Colin asked.  
   
Alfred cleared his throat.  “In order to receive your prizes, you must use _these_ clues to find the big, final clue.  Whichever team finds that will be the winner of the grand prize.”  
   
“What’s the grand prize?” Jason asked skeptically.  
   
Truly, Alfred didn’t know.  Masters Bruce and Clark had not told him any of their plans until after dinner the previous night, when Master Bruce had had to excuse himself with a headache.  The men had announced at that point that they would be leaving before sunup, and asked if Alfred could handle preparing the egg hunt and watch the children in their absence.  
   
And a good butler never backs down from his duty, no matter how much of challenge that duty threatens to present.   
   
“The grand prize, Master Jason, shall be announced later,” Alfred replied.  
   
“This clue,” Dick thought aloud.  “It’s the two of them, isn’t it?  It’s Bruce and Clark.”  Alfred didn’t need to respond because he could see that the wheels were turning in all of their heads.  
   
“The Fortress,” Damian crowed.  “Where else could they be but the Fortress of Solitude?”  
   
“Alright!” Colin cheered and high-fived Damian first and then Chris.  
   
“Do we all have to go?” Barbara asked.  “Because that doesn’t seem entirely necessary.”  
   
Tim shook his head.  “I don’t even want to go.”  Most of the older children made general sounds of agreement.  
   
“Only we should go anyways,” Damian said.  “And claim the grand prize.”  
   
Alfred had to step in here.  “Absolutely not.  The three of you will not go traipsing off to the arctic unsupervised.  Out of the question.”  
   
Damian groaned.  “Unfair, Pennyworth!”  
   
“I’m afraid I don’t care,” Alfred announced.  
   
“Then Grayson will come with us,” Damian said, crossing his arms and looking to Dick, silently begging him to comply.  
   
Dick smiled and nodded.  “Sure.  I’ll go.”  
   
Jason scoffed.  “Deserting me for the winning team?  Some partner you turned out to be.”  Dick sneered playfully.  
   
Whatever retort Dick was preparing to make was lost to them when Damian announced, “You two can banter later.  We need to go find Father.”  
   
Chris nodded.  “And my dad.”  
   
“And our grand prize,” Colin chimed.  Then, looking to Chris, he asked, “Are you strong enough to fly all four of us?”  
   
At that, Alfred shook his head.  “Flying is strictly prohibited in this portion of the competition.  Your fathers were quite clear about that.  Any team with a Super-child caught using his or her ability to fly or any Bat-child commandeering any of Master Bruce’s planes or any flying craft will be summarily disqualified.”  
   
“That doesn’t sound fair,” Dick grumbled.  
   
Alfred shrugged.  “I didn’t make the rules.  I am merely relating them to all of you.  You know to whom you may take your complaints.”  
   
“Once we’ve found a way to get to ‘em,” Colin sighed.  
   
“We’ll figure it out,” Chris said, trying to force confidence.  Alfred noticed that he was standing with his hands on his hips like his father would do.  That was rather endearing.  
   
And at that, Dick smiled and put his hand on Chris’s shoulder.  “I think I have an idea.  Alfred, they said we can’t fly… did they say we can’t have someone else fly us?”  
   
&&&&&&  
   
Clark fell back onto the big bed in his bedroom in the Fortress of Solitude, a crumpled ball of colored foil off of the Easter candy he had been eating falling from his hand as he did so.  “Is it bad to say that I kind of hate spring break?”  
   
Beside him, Bruce snorted a laugh.  “For you, Mr. Family First, yeah, it’s bad.”  
   
“Well, I don’t _really_ hate it,” Clark defended, his hand reaching for Bruce’s.  “It’s just such a _long_ week… and I’m just…”  
   
“Tired?” Bruce suggested.  
   
Clark nodded.  “Well, that, but more like…”  
   
“Worn out?”  
   
“Exactly,” Clark sighed.  He moved the Easter basket full of candy from in between them and set it on the floor and rolled himself over, closer to Bruce and smiled warmly when Bruce ran a finger along his jaw.   
   
“I love our family,” he continued.  “Having all the kids together is amazing.  But… I also love _you_ …”  
   
Bruce brought his face a little closer then and pressed a gentle kiss to Clark’s lips.  
   
“I miss being alone with you,” Clark whispered.  
   
Bruce hummed and kissed Clark again, letting his hands trail slowly up Clark’s back, his fingers feeling like they were tracing a design through the fabric of Clark’s shirt.  The kiss, so loving but passionate, was so honest… said so clearly that Bruce felt the same way.  But sometimes Clark needed to hear the words.  
   
“You miss me too, don’t you?” he asked, pausing the kissing briefly.  
   
At that, Bruce ran his tongue teasingly along Clark’s lip and deepened the kiss, his fingers digging desperately into Clark’s hips.  But after a moment, he broke, caught his breath, and replied, “Anytime I’m not alone with you I miss being alone with you.”  
   
Clark pressed his lips back to Bruce’s, smiling at the almost musical sound of the subtle moan Bruce let out.  Nowadays, it only took a gentle reminder to get Bruce to say the words, and that still amazed Clark.  Their marriage in general reminded Clark of the many times in Kansas when the weather would take a sudden turn – when you’d prepare for a light drizzle and get caught in a huge downpour.  
   
The good times like this, Clark often felt like he was running barefoot in the rain.  
   
He felt himself being pulled even closer so he pushed his hips against Bruce, his back arching into the other man’s touch.   
   
“God, Clark,” Bruce moaned.  
   
“Mmm, Bruce… I want…” Clark moaned in return, but his voice trailed off.  He was hearing something outside, a sound that should have been on the other side of the world right now.  
   
Bruce dipped his face down and kissed Clark’s neck.  “What, beautiful?” he all but growled, voice quiet and breathy enough to send shivers through his husband’s body.  “What do you want?  Anything.”  
   
Clark winced, experiencing both slightly painful disappointment at the realization they wouldn’t be able to finish what they’d started and a little bit of physical pain as well.  With a sigh, he said, “The kids are here.”  
   
Bruce pulled back and furrowed his brows deeply.  “Clark.  What the hell is the matter with you to make you wish the kids were here right now?”  
   
“No,” Clark sighed in annoyance.  “I don’t _want_ them to be here, they _are_ here.  They’re outside.  I heard them just now.”  And no sooner than he’d finished speaking did an alarm sound to alert them that there was someone outside the Fortress.  
   
“They’re here sooner than we expected,” Bruce commented.  “At least we don’t have to worry about that.”  
   
Clark groaned and fell onto his back on the mattress beside Bruce.  “You have got to be kidding me.”  
   
&&&  
   
Some minutes later, Clark was pouring hot chocolate for Damian, Chris, Colin, and Dick… and Chris was plastered to his side.  He made a mental note to make sure that for now at least, Chris always had some idea where he was or how to get in touch with him.  He was slightly worried that he had frightened the boy too much by not being there when he woke up.  He’d have a talk with Chris later, reassure him that he wasn’t going anywhere, but for now, the hot chocolate would have to do.  
   
“So how did they convince you to take part in this?” Bruce asked Diana, who it seemed had been duped into helping the boys get around the “no flying” ordinance in today’s game.  
   
“Well, it began with this little con artist,” she began, jerking her thumb in Damian’s direction, “calling me ‘Aunty Diana’ and concluded with your eldest assuring me that the entire family was worried about you… that you were gone with no notice.  And your communicators _were_ off, so…”  
   
“Because we wanted to be alone,” Clark explained.  
   
“Well, I see that _now_ ,” Diana replied, smiling.  She looked fondly at the boys and shook her head.  “I wouldn’t have brought them, had I suspected them of using me.”  
   
Bruce sighed.  “They were just trying to win the game.”  
   
Damian grinned at that.  “Speaking of which, Father, when do we get our prizes?”  
   
“Oh,” Bruce began casually.  “Didn’t Alfred tell you?  One of the books in the library tells you where to find your prizes.”  
   
Chris frowned.  He was probably thinking of how big the library was.  “Which book?”  
   
“ _That’s_ your challenge,” Bruce replied with a nod.  
   
Clark glanced at their friend and gave an apologetic little smile.  “Diana, would you mind terribly…?”  
   
She smiled and shook her head.  “Not at all.  The flight back will give us time to discuss why you never lie to Wonder Woman.”  
   
The five of them left, and once Clark was sure they were gone, far enough for Chris not to hear them without straining, he asked, “There’s no book in the library with directions to their prizes, is there?”  
   
“Of course not,” Bruce replied, a mischievous smile on his face.  “But it’ll keep them busy for a while, and they’ll have to find a different way back here.”  
   
Clark returned Bruce’s smile.  “Which should give us plenty of time to…”  
   
Bruce grabbed Clark’s hand and pulled him closer.  “Yes… if we start now.”

**Author's Note:**

> Special shout out to my irl non-shipping and non-fandom friend who said to me, before Christmas, "So your Easter fic is going to be called Robin's Eggs, right??"


End file.
